Conversion of soil water infiltration rates between vegetated and non-vegetated land covers by using the Kostiakov-Lewis model

Abstract

Soil water infiltration rates are essential for hydrological studies, planning and design of irrigation and drainage systems, among other applications. Various studies have been carried out in plots with and without vegetation cover, aiming to identify the influence of the cover on the water infiltration process in soil. However, a few works have addressed the relationship between infiltration rates of a plot with and without vegetation cover. Here we investigated the ability to iterate between infiltration rates with and without vegetation cover, seeking to identify potential correlations. We propose an innovative and easy-to-use empirical model that allows the conversion of infiltration rates in systems with vegetation cover into infiltration rates without coverage and vice versa. Altogether, we used a dataset comprising 142 rainfall simulation experiments under plots with and without cover, including 6 different types of soil and 18 types of land cover and management. The proposed model was based on the Kostiakov-Lewis model, presenting performance similar to other infiltration models, which is effective in a variety of planting and vegetation cover systems.